Almost Alice » l.h

1.3

a m y

"Officer Carp wasn't very surprised to see Luke." Ashton said as we walked into his and Michael's place.

As we walked in, I froze in place. Seeing Alice out like a light with her head in Michael's lap was...definitely something to see. Michael had told me that he just felt intimidated around Alice and he didn't know why, so I was surprised to say the least when he was calmly running his hand up and down her arm while he watched TV with Violet.

"I had Michael call hi-" Violet stopped mid sentence because it seemed everyone that entered the house was shocked to see Michael being the one to have comforted my sister. "Guys, it's not even that big of a deal."

Michael looked up from the TV and looked at us. His cheeks turned a faint shade of pink but he didn't try to move out from under her, nor did he stop running his fingertips over her arm. "Hi?"

I shook my head and walked over to him. "Is she alright?"

He nodded. "Just a panic attack. Why is she so freaked about everyone thinking she had sex?"

I sighed because I knew I couldn't tell them. Alice hardly even allowed me to think it. "I can't really tell you. It's her thing, not mine. Sex is just...it's a big deal to her."

"Luke," Violet said his name, looking around Michael at the boy with his bloodied and red knuckles that were now wrapped in bandages. "what'd you get off with?"

"Just a warning if I went back to anger management classes." he huffed and crossed his arms.

If Luke hated anything more than guys who treated women poorly - actually, he didn't hate anything more than that but this would be a close second - it was anger management classes. He never liked going and was relieved when he got to stop. But now he completely threw that out the window and had to go back again since he broke Ross' nose.

He was lucky Ross and his parents didn't decide to press charges since Calum was there to calmly explain what Ross had done to my sister. His mom was furious and I thought his sister - she was two grades below him - was going to start beating the shit out of him too.

"You're going back?" Michael asked him.

He nodded stiffly and rolled his eyes, biting down on his lip ring.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I guess I should get Alice into bed."

"You can use mine." Ashton offered, walking passed me to scoop up Alice from the couch.

She stirred slightly but didn't wake up. He walked her into his room and I followed, calling behind me for someone to bring in a water bottle and a bucket just in case. Ashton laid her in his bed and I thanked him, kissing his lips quickly before he left. I covered her up and sat down next to her, taking my phone out to pass the time until she woke up.

"Hey," Luke said as he walked in with a water bottle in one hand and a bucket in the other. He set the bucket down next to Alice's side of the bed before tossing me the water bottle. "I wanted to apologize for shoving you. I really didn't mean to do that. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

When Luke got really worked up, he'd act and speak without thinking. I knew he didn't mean to make me fall over, and his expression showed he was worried about me and upset with himself. In his head, I knew he thought he was just as terrible as Ross even though he didn't even really do anything to me.

I shook my head. "Luke, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"I just can't believe I actually pushed you like that." he sighed, running one of his battered hands through his hair.

"You didn't, you just sort of shook me off." I shrugged and smiled a little to try to make him feel better. "If anything, I should've hung on better."

"I'm not joking, Amy, I feel really bad." he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed by Alice and looking down at her face.

"Well you shouldn't." I stated. "I'm fine and if I wasn't, Calum would've kicked the shit out of you for me."

Luke didn't say anything for a while as he watched Alice. "Is she going to be okay?"

I nodded. "I think so. She's had a few other panic attacks but they were a while ago. She just got scared and really stressed out."

"Did she have one when she found out she'd have to go to school with us?"

I shook my head. "No, she was calm about that for the most part. It takes a lot to actually worry her."

"Like sex?" Luke asked, looking up at me. "I still don't understand that. Is she just really against it?"

"Luke, I can't say." I sighed. "I wish I could tell you guys or that she could but she hasn't told anyone. She doesn't even think about it anymore. She's basically locked it in the back of her mind."

He nodded slowly and looked back down at her. "Well, whatever it is, I hope she feels better about it soon. I'm so glad I didn't have to see her have a breakdown. It looks like it was pretty bad."

His fingertips gently brushed over where tear stains were streaking her face. Around her eyes still looked puffy and her face was still pink. Her breathing was very deep and even, like she was just completely passed out. It was the kind of sleep that came after crying really hard.

I glanced at Luke and saw the way he was looking at her. It was almost...endearing. His thumb lightly ran over her cheek and he sighed softly, probably wishing he could've somehow completely stopped Alice from being upset all together.

"You really like her, huh?" I asked quietly, not really wanting to break his moment.

He looked up at me briefly and smiled softly before looking back down at Alice. "It's weird because she looks like you but I don't see her as you, you know? Most people look at one twin and think of the other but that doesn't happen with her. When I look at her I just see Alice."

Normally, I'd be incredibly protective over Alice. I wouldn't want any boy touching her or talking to her or even breathing in her general direction if they even had somewhat of an attraction to her. Alice was very fragile and sweet and I would protect my little sister at all costs. But the fact it was Luke, who I'd known for years and who had just gone and almost killed a guy for treating her badly, I found it to be the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

I'd never seen Luke so gentle and careful with anything. I'd never even seen him look at anything like that except maybe his niece and nephew. His eyes were just filled with so much care for her and I found it adorable.

I laughed softly. "It hasn't even been three days and you already have a crush on my sister."

He shrugged. "It's only been three days so far. Besides, Romeo and Juliet fell in love in one night. You should know that since you're so smart when it comes to Shakespeare."

"Are you saying you're in love with Alice?"

"No, I'm just saying that having admiration for someone and adoring them a little isn't that weird. ...Right?"